Rodriguez (file photo)
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By JIGGER J. JERUSALEM Correspondent .

POLITICAL leaders from a progressive bloc renewed their opposition to the proposed Charter change, saying the effort of the Duterte administration to amend the 1987 Constitution is geared at allowing China to further intrude into the country’s maritime territory and sovereignty.

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“Cha-cha has a new component—deleting constitutional provisions that will protect the Philippines from China’s expansionism in the West Philippine Sea as well as providing China red carpet entry into the Philippines,” said a joint statement issued by Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate over the weekend.

The move to amend the Constitution has been revived, said the city’s 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who heads the House constitutional amendments committee, starting with the holding of public consultations around the country, with Cagayan de Oro as its first stop on Friday.

Both Colmenares and Zarate have warned citizens to be wary of the “Cha-cha” revival as they urged the public to “prepare for a full battle against a pro-China and pro-dynasty Cha-cha in the waning years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency.”

“Even with the still high popularity of President Duterte, nine out of 10 Filipinos believe that we should assert our sovereignty and Cha-cha is a way of surrendering it. Filipinos draw the line when it comes to fighting against foreign oppressors like China and the US,” Colmenares said.

He said the recent push for amending the Constitution for economic reforms by allowing entry of foreign businesses makes the current Cha-cha “the most dangerous because it will open up the country further to countries like China.”

Colmenares said, “It deletes the requirement under Section 2 Article XII of the 1987 Constitution that the ‘exploration, development and utilization of natural resources’ can only be undertaken by the State through joint ventures ‘with Filipino citizens or corporations at least sixty percent of whose capital is owned by Filipinos.’”

“This means that there will no longer be a constitutional barrier to [Duterte] undertaking a joint exploration with the Chinese government or 100 percent Chinese-owned corporations,” he added.

Worse, Colmenares said, the latest version of Cha-cha would also delete the requirement under Section 7 Article XIII of the Constitution that requires the government to protect the Philippine “marine resources and subsistence fishermen from foreign intrusion.”

With this, Colmenares has called on members of the House, even those loyal to the President, not to give the country to foreigners.

“Presidents come and go, in a few years, President Duterte will no longer be there, but if we amend the Constitution, this will be with us for many years to come condemning our sons and daughters to the control of China. We cannot sacrifice the future of the next generation of Filipinos in exchange for our loyalties to a temporary President,” he said.

For his part, Zarate criticized the proposed constitutional amendments, most especially on the promise of electoral reforms, zeroing in on political dynasty and extension of the term of elected public officials.

“Considering that President Duterte’s family controls many government positions, it is a foregone conclusion that [he] will support the deletion of political dynasty in the Constitution,” he said.

Rodriguez said he is optimistic that the proposed amendments to the country’s 1987 Constitution will be passed in Congress and ratified before the term of President Rodrigo Duterte ends in 2022.

He said he is confident that the House of Representatives would fast-track the discussion and approval on the changes on some provisions of the Constitution.

Before Congress takes a break in March next year, Rodriguez said, the Lower House plenary would already have voted for the approval of the amendments, which they will then transmit to the Senate by April.

 “It is up to the Senate how they will look at it,” Rodriguez told reporters at the sidelines of the public consultation on the constitutional changes held at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines gymnasium Friday.

Among the amendments that were discussed during the consultation was the proposed shift from the unitary and centralized system of government to federal, the lifting of the economic provisions limiting the foreign ownership of corporations, and the extension of terms of elected officials from three to five years.

If the majority members of the House would give the proposed amendments their full support, Rodriguez said it would compel Duterte to campaign for it.

“If the President would see there is strong support in Congress, then he will be encouraged again to go back to his original advocacy and to make a strong push, as having a federal form of government was what he advocated for when ran for the presidency,” he said.

For Elsito Obsioma, 66, a village councilor from Tagpangi, this city, he is supportive of the constitutional changes.

“The intention is good because it will benefit us all. It is also advantageous for us, barangay officials, because our term will be extended,” Obsioma said.

The public consultation is the first round of such forum outside of Congress, Rodriguez said, adding that his committee would hold similar consultations in Santiago City, Isabela, and Iloilo City in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Sen. Cristopher Lawrence Go said he would vote against any move to change the 1987 Constitution “if those who [would] benefit from the changes in the Constitution are politicians.”

Citizens should be the ones who should benefit from any move to change the Constitution, said Go who was here on Saturday to bring aid to fire survivors at the Carmen National High School.

“If changes are to be made to the Constitution, it should be for the good of the Filipinos, not us elected officials or politicians,” he said.

Go said discussions on the constitutional amendments have not been scheduled in the Senate yet.

Among the provisions in the 1987 Constitution that may be amended are the shift from a unitary and centralized system of government to federal, the lifting of the economic provisions limiting the foreign ownership of corporations, and the extension of terms of elected officials from three to five years.

“It is up to the Senate how they will look at it,” Rodriguez said.

Rep. Zarate said the issue should not be on the amendment of the Constitution but the proper implementation of the country’s laws.

“We have enough laws. The problem is on the implementation,” Zarate said.

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